Application-aware tuning of transport parameters

Abstract

The present invention is entitled "Application-aware adjustment of transmission parameters." A user equipment (UE) is disclosed that determines a transmission power for data transmission to a network. The UE determines a specific absorption rate (SAR) limit associated with the UE and determines the transmission power to be allocated for the data transmission based on one or more applications running on the UE and the SAR limit.

Description

Background Art

[0001] A user equipment (UE) may be configured with a variety of wireless communication capabilities. Wireless communication may refer to various regulations and / or standards. For example, a regulatory entity may set a maximum specific absorption rate (SAR) limit to regulate exposure to radio frequency (RF) energy. Due to the SAR limit, the UE may implement various mitigation techniques related to the amount of RF energy transmitted by the UE to ensure that the SAR associated with the UE does not exceed the SAR limit. Summary of the invention

[0002] Some example embodiments are directed to a processor of a user equipment (UE) configured to perform operations including determining a specific absorption rate (SAR) limit associated with the UE and determining a transmission power to be allocated for data transmission based on one or more applications running on the UE and the SAR limit.

[0003] Other exemplary embodiments are directed to a user equipment (UE) having a transceiver configured to communicate with a wireless network and a processor communicatively coupled to the transceiver and configured to perform operations including determining a specific absorption rate (SAR) limit associated with the UE and determining a transmission power to be allocated for data transmission based on one or more applications running on the UE and the SAR limit. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0004] Figure 1 Exemplary network arrangements are shown according to various exemplary embodiments.

[0005] Figure 2 An exemplary UE according to various exemplary embodiments is shown.

[0006] Figure 3 An exemplary method for adjusting one or more transmission parameters based on running applications and a SAR associated with a UE within a time window is shown in accordance with various exemplary embodiments.

[0007] Figure 4 Shows instructions for use Figure 3 Method for adjusting transmission parameters of FIG.

[0008] Figure 5 An exemplary method for adjusting one or more transmission parameters based on running applications and a SAR associated with a UE within a time window is shown in accordance with various exemplary embodiments.

[0009] Figure 6 Shows instructions for use Figure 5 Method for adjusting transmission parameters of FIG. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0010] The exemplary embodiments may be further understood with reference to the following description and associated drawings, in which similar elements have the same reference numerals. The exemplary embodiments describe devices, systems, and methods for managing the specific absorption rate (SAR) associated with a user equipment (UE) based on one or more applications running on the UE. SAR generally refers to a measure of the rate at which radio frequency (RF) energy is absorbed by the human body. Throughout this specification, when reference is made to the metric using SAR, SAR represents the power absorbed per unit mass of tissue and will be expressed in decibel-milliwatts (dBm).

[0011] Various standards and / or regulations may set SAR limits (or thresholds) to ensure that users of the device are not exposed to excessive RF energy. Accordingly, a person in proximity to the device, for example, will not be exposed to RF energy exceeding a predetermined threshold over a specific duration. An exemplary embodiment relates to a SAR limit based on an average SAR associated with a UE over a defined duration.

[0012] Thus, throughout this specification, a SAR limit may refer to a predetermined threshold parameter to be compared to an average SAR associated with a UE during a time window. The duration of the time window may be based on any suitable factor, such as, for example, a timer of a predetermined duration, the occurrence of an event of a predetermined type or a predetermined set of criteria, the duration of a network connection, measurement data, a request, a user input, any combination thereof, etc. However, any reference to a time window as a specific duration or a time window dependent on any specific factor is provided for illustrative purposes only, and the exemplary embodiments may apply to time windows of any duration.

[0013] The SAR experienced at any location relative to a UE (e.g., a three-dimensional point measured relative to the UE (hereinafter referred to as a "SAR location")) may depend on various factors. These factors may include, but are not limited to, transmission power, the angle between the source (e.g., at least one antenna) and the SAR location, the presence of objects between the source and the SAR location, the distance between the source and the SAR location, etc. Thus, RF energy transmitted by the UE from a source (e.g., at least one antenna) may result in a SAR having a first value at a first SAR location and a SAR having a second value at a second SAR location. To account for these variations, the UE may be subject to different SAR limits, each relative to a different portion of the user (e.g., head, whole body, tissue of a certain gram, wrist, arm, leg, etc.). Additionally, different types of UEs may be subject to different SAR limits. However, the exemplary embodiments are not limited to SAR limits relative to any particular portion of the user.

[0014] From the UE perspective, RF energy is emitted from the antenna when the radio performs a transmission. One of ordinary skill in the art will appreciate that there is a direct correlation between the values ​​of various parameters used for the operation of the UE radio and the SAR associated with the UE. Exemplary embodiments will be described with reference to determining the SAR associated with the UE based on the transmit power and duty cycle utilized by the radio. However, one of ordinary skill in the art will appreciate that other parameters associated with the operation of the radio may be used to determine the SAR associated with the UE.

[0015] Due to the correlation between transmit power and the SAR associated with the UE, the UE may ensure at least partial compliance with the SAR limit by limiting the transmit power parameter of the radio to a predetermined maximum value. Thus, while the UE may be able to utilize a transmit power having a first value, the UE may limit itself (e.g., within a certain time period) to a maximum transmit power that is less than the first value. Throughout this specification, the term allowed transmit power may generally refer to a maximum transmit power that the UE may utilize while remaining in compliance with the SAR limit.

[0016] Conventionally, to ensure that the UE complies with the SAR limit, the UE switches between a maximum transmit power (e.g., which may depend on one or more of UE capabilities, network configuration, or regulatory requirements) and a fallback transmit power. During a time window, the UE will transmit at the maximum transmit power for a first duration and at the fallback transmit power for a second duration. Using this technique, the average transmit power over the time window complies with the SAR limit. However, the UE switches between these two transmit powers without regard to any running applications or future power requirements of those applications.

[0017] As will be described in detail below, exemplary embodiments relate to determining one or more transmission parameters based on a SAR limit and one or more applications running on a UE. In some embodiments, the one or more parameters may be based on the type of application running on the UE. In other embodiments, the one or more parameters may alternatively or additionally be based on a duty cycle of the application running on the UE. Thus, the transmission parameters are optimized based on the needs of the running application.

[0018] Figure 1An exemplary network arrangement 100 according to various exemplary embodiments is shown. The exemplary network arrangement 100 includes a UE 110. It should be noted that any number of UEs may be used in the network arrangement 100. Those skilled in the art will appreciate that the UE 110 may alternatively be any type of electronic component configured to communicate via a network, such as a mobile phone, a tablet computer, a desktop computer, a smart phone, a phablet, an embedded device, a wearable device, an Internet of Things (IoT) device, etc. It should also be appreciated that an actual network arrangement may include any number of UEs used by any number of users. Therefore, for illustrative purposes, only an example with a single UE 110 is provided.

[0019] UE 110 may be configured to communicate with one or more networks. In the example of network configuration 100, the networks with which UE 110 may wirelessly communicate are 5G New Radio (NR) radio access network (5G NR-RAN) 120, LTE radio access network (LTE-RAN) 122, and wireless local area network (WLAN) 124. However, it should be understood that UE 110 may also communicate with other types of networks, and UE 110 may also communicate with the network through a wired connection. Thus, UE 110 may include a 5G NR chipset that communicates with 5G NR-RAN 120, an LTE chipset that communicates with LTE-RAN 122, and an ISM chipset that communicates with WLAN 124.

[0020] 5G NR-RAN 120 and LTE-RAN 122 may be parts of cellular networks that may be deployed by cellular providers (e.g., Verizon, AT&T, T-Mobile, etc.). These networks 120, 122 may include, for example, cells or base stations (NodeB, eNodeB, HeNB, eNBS, gNB, gNodeB, macrocell base stations, microcell base stations, small cell base stations, femtocell base stations, etc.) configured to send and receive traffic from UEs equipped with appropriate cellular chipsets. WLAN 124 may include any type of wireless local area network (WiFi, hotspot, IEEE 802.11x network, etc.).

[0021] UE 110 may be connected to 5G NR-RAN 120 via gNB 120A and / or gNB 120B. gNB 120A and 120B may be configured with the necessary hardware (e.g., antenna arrays), software, and / or firmware to perform massive multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) functionality. Massive MIMO may refer to a base station configured to generate multiple beams for multiple UEs. During operation, UE 110 may be within range of multiple gNBs. Therefore, simultaneously or alternatively, UE 110 may be connected to 5G NR-RAN 120 via gNB 120A and 120B. In this example, gNB 120A may be considered to be part of CG1 and gNB 120B may be considered to be part of CG2. Therefore, in DC operation, UE 110 may be simultaneously connected to gNB 120A (CG1) and gNB 120B (CG2). Reference to two gNBs 120A, 120B is for illustrative purposes only. The exemplary embodiments may be applied to any suitable number of gNBs. In addition, UE 110 may communicate with eNB 122A of LTE-RAN 122 to transmit and receive control information for downlink and / or uplink synchronization with respect to 5G NR-RAN 120 connection.

[0022] Those skilled in the art will appreciate that any relevant process may be performed for the UE 110 to connect to the 5G NR-RAN 120. For example, as described above, the 5G NR-RAN 120 may be associated with a particular cellular provider, where the UE 110 and / or its user has protocol and credential information (e.g., stored on a SIM card). Upon detecting the presence of the 5G NR-RAN 120, the UE 110 may transmit corresponding credential information in order to associate with the 5G NR-RAN 120. More specifically, the UE 110 may be associated with a particular base station (e.g., gNB 120A of the 5G NR-RAN 120).

[0023] In addition to the networks 120, 122, and 124, the network arrangement 100 includes a cellular core network 130, the Internet 140, an IP multimedia subsystem (IMS) 150, and a network service backbone 160. The cellular core network 130 can be viewed as an interconnected collection of components that manage the operation and traffic of the cellular network. The cellular core network 130 also manages the traffic flowing between the cellular network and the Internet 140. The IMS 150 can be generally described as an architecture for delivering multimedia services to the UE 110 using the IP protocol. The IMS 150 can communicate with the cellular core network 130 and the Internet 140 to provide multimedia services to the UE 110. The network service backbone 160 communicates directly or indirectly with the Internet 140 and the cellular core network 130. The network service backbone 160 can be generally described as a set of components (e.g., servers, network storage arrangements, etc.) that implement a set of services that can be used to extend the functionality of the UE 110 to communicate with various networks.

[0024] Figure 2 An exemplary UE 110 is shown according to various exemplary embodiments. Figure 1 100 is used to describe the UE 110. The UE 110 may represent any electronic device and may include a processor 205, a memory arrangement 210, a display device 215, an input / output (I / O) device 220, a transceiver 225, and other components 230. The other components 230 may include, for example, an audio input device, an audio output device, a battery providing a limited power source, a data acquisition device, a port for electrically connecting the UE 110 to other electronic devices, one or more antenna panels, etc. For example, the UE 110 may be coupled to industrial equipment via one or more ports.

[0025] Processor 205 may be configured to execute multiple engines of UE 110. For example, the engines may include transmission parameter management engine 235. Transmission parameter management engine 235 may perform various operations related to determining one or more transmission parameters based on applications running on the UE.

[0026] The above-described engine as an application (e.g., program) executed by the processor 205 is merely exemplary. The functions associated with the engine may also be represented as an independent combined component of the UE 110, or may be a modular component coupled to the UE 110, for example, an integrated circuit with or without firmware. For example, an integrated circuit may include an input circuit for receiving a signal and a processing circuit for processing the signal and other information. The engine may also be embodied as an application or multiple separate applications. In addition, in some UEs, the functionality described for the processor 205 is shared between two or more processors such as a baseband processor and an application processor. The exemplary embodiments may be implemented in any of these or other configurations of the UE.

[0027] The memory arrangement 210 may be a hardware component configured to store data related to operations performed by the UE 110. The display device 215 may be a hardware component configured to display data to a user, and the I / O device 220 may be a hardware component that enables user input. The display device 215 and the I / O device 220 may be separate components or may be integrated together (such as a touch screen). The transceiver 225 may be a hardware component configured to establish a connection with the 5G NR-RAN 120, LTE-RAN 122, WLAN 124, etc. Thus, the transceiver 225 may operate on multiple different frequencies or channels (e.g., a continuous set of frequencies).

[0028] Figure 3 An exemplary method 300 for adjusting one or more transmission parameters based on a running application and a SAR associated with UE 110 within a time window according to various exemplary embodiments is shown. It should be noted that the method 300 assumes that a delay sensitive application is running on UE 110. The delay sensitive application may be, for example, a voice call (such as Voice over Long Term Evolution (VoLTE)) or a real-time application (such as Facetime (audio / video)). The method 300 adjusts the allowed transmission power (P) to the maximum transmission power (P) based on the duty cycle of the delay sensitive application. max ) and then changes back to the back-off transmission power (P fallback ) to prioritize delay-sensitive upload traffic. Thus, UE 110 ensures that it complies with the SAR limit within a given time window while ensuring that maximum transmission power is allocated to delay-sensitive traffic.

[0029] In 305, UE 110 determines a duty cycle for the delay-sensitive application. For example, if the delay-sensitive application is VoLTE, the duty cycle may be 40 ms, e.g., UE 110 will transmit uplink voice every 40 ms. However, it should be understood that different applications may have correspondingly different duty cycles, and the 40 ms duty cycle for VoLTE is merely exemplary.

[0030] In 310, UE 110 sets the allowed transmission power between P and 1 based on the duty cycle determined in 305. max and P fallback This switches between Figure 4 It is shown in Figure 4 A diagram illustrating the use of method 300 for adjusting transmission parameters is shown. Figure 4 As shown, UE 110 changes the allowed transmission power based on a duty cycle, which is the time period 410 between peaks 405. More specifically, whenever there is a data packet to be transmitted, UE 110 changes the allowed transmission power to Pmax For example, assuming that the duty cycle of VoLTE is 40 ms, UE 110 changes the allowed transmission power to P every 40 ms. max UE 110 will maintain this P max The transmission power is allowed to be changed back to P for a transmission time period 415 required to transmit the data packet. Thus, in the VoLTE example, this time period is approximately 1 ms. After the transmission time period has elapsed, the UE 110 changes the allowed transmission power back to P. fallback .

[0031] Therefore, UE 110 adjusts P based on the duty cycle of the delay-sensitive application. max Assign and return to P fallback However, it should be noted that although UE 110 allocates a maximum power P for delay-sensitive transmissions max , but the actual transmission power used to transmit a data packet is not necessarily equal to the P used for each data packet transmission. max For example, if UE 110 is near a base station (e.g., gNB 120A) with a clear line of sight, it may not be necessary to use P max In addition, the actual transmission power may also depend on other factors, such as path loss, inter-cell interference, etc. Therefore, P max is the maximum allowed transmit power, but may not necessarily be the actual transmit power.

[0032] return Figure 3 , at 315, UE 110 determines whether there are any non-delay-sensitive applications running with data to be transmitted. If there are no such applications running on UE 110, method 300 ends. That is, data packets of delay-sensitive applications are transmitted according to the duty cycle of the delay-sensitive applications, and the maximum allowed power is allocated for the transmission of these data packets. However, if at 315, UE 110 determines that there are non-delay-sensitive applications running that need to transmit data, UE 110 may rank these applications based on some predetermined criteria. If there is only one non-delay-sensitive application with data to be transmitted, the ranking may be skipped.

[0033] If there is available power headroom after considering the transmission of the delay-sensitive data, then at 325, the UE 110 may bundle the non-delay-sensitive data with the delay-sensitive data. In some embodiments, the UE 110 may determine which non-delay-sensitive data to bundle with the delay-sensitive data based on the ranking at 320. In some embodiments, if there is sufficient power headroom available, the UE 110 may bundle all non-delay-sensitive data with the delay-sensitive data. Thus, any non-delay-sensitive data is transmitted with the delay-sensitive data and may advantageously utilize the higher transmission power P allocated for the delay-sensitive data. max .

[0034] Figure 5 An exemplary method 500 for adjusting one or more transmission parameters based on running applications and SAR associated with a UE within a time window according to various exemplary embodiments is shown. The method 500 determines a maximum transmission power allocation for a given time window based on a previous duty cycle. Figure 6 The method 500 is described. Figure 6 Adjustment of transmission parameters using method 500 is shown.

[0035] In 505, UE 110 determines the upcoming time window (T n ) activity time period (T n,act ). The UE is configured to perform the following operations based on the time window corresponding to the previous time window (T1-T n-1 ) of the previously observed activity period (T 1,act -T n-1,act ) to determine T n,act In some embodiments, for example, UE 110 may use a weighted moving average prediction algorithm to estimate T n,act , the weighted moving average prediction algorithm is based on the previously observed activity time period (T 1,act -T n-1,act ). For example, the weighted moving average prediction algorithm can use the formula Est active =(1-α)×Est active +α×active, where α=1 / 8. However, it should be noted that α may have other values, for example, α may be any weighted value from 0 to 1. active is a weighted moving average of the predictions of T(n,act). Active is the active time in the previous time window Tn-1.

[0036] In some embodiments, UE 110 may alternatively use a drift method to determine T n,act In this embodiment, UE 110 estimates the drift (the amount of change over time). Therefore, Tn,act is based on the determined drift and T n-1,act In some embodiments, the drift can be used to calculate the Based on drift and time period T n-1 T n-1,act To determine the time period T n T n,act .

[0037] In some embodiments, the UE may alternatively use an autoregressive integrated moving average (ARIMA), which is a combination of a differenced autoregressive model and a moving average model.

[0038] return Figure 5 At 510, UE 110 determines that the T n,act The allocated will be assigned to the time window (T n ) transmission power (P n ). In some embodiments, the formula To determine the transmission power (P n ), where P limit is the SAR limit, T n Including time period T n The idle time and active time during the period, and P limit ≤P n ≤P max For example, if there is no idle time during the time window, the entire time window is considered active time. In this scenario, P n will be P determined by the SAR limit limit .

[0039] At 515, UE 110 performs the activity at an estimated time (T n,act ) during which the transmission power (P n ). Although the power is greater than the SAR limit, the power is applied to an active time period that is smaller than the time window for which the SAR limit is defined. Thus, when the average transmission power is calculated for the time window, the average transmission power will comply with the SAR limit. Thus, the UE 110 allocates a larger allowed transmission power during the time when it is expected that the running application needs to transmit data.

[0040] Although this patent application describes various combinations of various embodiments each having different features, those skilled in the art will understand that any feature of an embodiment may be combined with features of other embodiments in any manner not publicly denied or with features that are not functionally or logically inconsistent with the operation or function of the device of the embodiments disclosed in the present invention.

[0041] Those skilled in the art will appreciate that the exemplary embodiments described above may be implemented with any suitable software configuration or hardware configuration or combination thereof. Exemplary hardware platforms for implementing the exemplary embodiments may include, for example, Intel x86-based platforms with compatible operating systems, Windows OS, Mac platforms and MAC OS, mobile devices with operating systems such as iOS, Android, etc. In other examples, the exemplary embodiments of the above methods may be embodied as a program including lines of code stored on a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium, which, when compiled, may be executed on a processor or microprocessor.

[0042] It is understood that the use of personally identifiable information should be subject to privacy policies and practices that are generally recognized to meet or exceed industry or government requirements for maintaining user privacy. Specifically, personally identifiable information data should be managed and processed to minimize the risk of unintentional or unauthorized access or use, and the nature of the authorized use should be clearly stated to users.

[0043] It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that various modifications may be made to the present disclosure without departing from the spirit or scope of the present disclosure. Therefore, the present disclosure is intended to cover modifications and variations of the present disclosure, provided that these modifications and variations are within the scope of the appended claims and their equivalents.

Claims

1. A processor of a user equipment UE, the processor being configured to perform operations, the operations comprising: determining a specific absorption rate (SAR) limit associated with the UE; determining a maximum transmission power to be allocated for data transmission based on one or more applications running on the UE and the SAR limit, the one or more applications including at least a delay sensitive application; Determine the duty cycle of latency-sensitive applications; allocating the maximum transmission power for data transmission of the delay-sensitive application based on the duty cycle; as well as Switching between the maximum transmission power and a backoff transmission power is performed based on the duty cycle, wherein the backoff transmission power is less than the maximum transmission power.

2. The processor of claim 1, wherein the maximum transmit power is based on one of UE capabilities, a network configuration of the UE, or a provision associated with the UE.

3. The processor of claim 1 , wherein the operations further comprise: determining whether the one or more applications further include one or more non-delay sensitive applications; as well as When the one or more applications include one or more non-delay sensitive applications, the non-delay sensitive data is bundled with the delay sensitive data.

4. The processor of claim 3, wherein when the one or more non-latency sensitive applications include a plurality of non-latency sensitive applications, the operations further comprise: ranking the plurality of non-delay-sensitive applications based on predetermined criteria, Wherein bundling the non-delay sensitive data is based on the ranking.

5. The processor of claim 1 , wherein the operations further comprise: determining an estimated activity time period for an upcoming time window based on one or more previously observed activity time periods for one or more corresponding time windows, Wherein the transmission power is determined based on the estimated activity time period. The processor of claim 5 , wherein the estimated activity time period is determined using a predetermined algorithm.

7. The processor of claim 5, wherein the operations further comprise: The transmission power is allocated to data transmitted during the estimated activity time period.

8. The processor of claim 1, wherein the delay-sensitive application is Voice over Long Term Evolution (VoLTE).

9. A user equipment UE, comprising: a transceiver configured to communicate via a wireless network; as well as a processor communicatively coupled to the transceiver and configured to perform operations including: determining a specific absorption rate (SAR) limit associated with the UE; determining a maximum transmission power to be allocated for data transmission based on one or more applications running on the UE and the SAR limit, the one or more applications including at least a delay sensitive application; Determine the duty cycle of latency-sensitive applications; allocating the maximum transmission power for data transmission of the delay-sensitive application based on the duty cycle; as well as Switching between the maximum transmission power and a backoff transmission power is performed based on the duty cycle, wherein the backoff transmission power is less than the maximum transmission power.

10. The UE of claim 9, wherein the maximum transmission power is based on one of UE capabilities, a network configuration of the UE, or a provision associated with the UE.

11. The UE according to claim 9, wherein the operations further comprise: determining whether the one or more applications further include one or more non-delay sensitive applications; as well as When the one or more applications include one or more non-delay sensitive applications, the non-delay sensitive data is bundled with the delay sensitive data.

12. The UE according to claim 11, wherein when the one or more non-delay-sensitive applications include a plurality of non-delay-sensitive applications, the operation further comprises: ranking the plurality of non-delay-sensitive applications based on predetermined criteria, Wherein bundling the non-delay sensitive data is based on the ranking.

13. The UE according to claim 9, wherein the operations further comprise: determining an estimated activity time period for an upcoming time window based on one or more previously observed activity time periods for one or more corresponding time windows, Wherein the transmission power is determined based on the estimated activity time period. The UE according to claim 13 , wherein the estimated activity time period is determined using a predetermined algorithm.

15. The UE of claim 13, wherein the operations further comprise: The transmission power is allocated to data transmitted during the estimated activity time period.

16. The UE according to claim 9, wherein the delay-sensitive application is Voice over Long Term Evolution (VoLTE).

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